Method For Preventing A Shoe Tongue From Decentralizing

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides for an anchoring member configured for a user to securely affix to a shoe eyelet or exterior wall of a shoe for the purpose of preventing the tongue of the shoe from moving laterally or longitudinally (e.g., decentralizing). The present invention is manufactured from a lightweight, comfortable and inexpensive material, thereby providing users with optimum comfort during use and providing manufacturers the ability to inexpensively mass produce the product.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims the priority of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Ser. No. 62/050,088, filed on Sep. 13, 2014 and entitled“Method For Preventing A Shoe Tongue From Decentralizing,” which isentirely incorporated by reference herein.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to improving footwear and moreparticularly to a method for preventing the tongue of laced footwearfrom decentralizing.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Nearly everyone who has worn a pair of shoes, a boot or some type oflaced footwear (hereinafter collectively referred to as “shoe”) haveexperienced that the tongue of their shoe tends to move laterally daringthe course of being worn. The tongue of the shoe can move from the idealcentralized location for a plurality of reasons; however, the mostcommon occurrence is during exercise.

U.S. Pat. No. 1,472,519 (hereinafter referred to as the “Gingrichpatent”) by Elmer R. Gingrich, discloses a shoe clip comprising a bodymember arranged vertically on the tongue of a shoe, with bendable prongsadapted for penetrating the tongue of the shoe to hold the dip in place.The Gingrich patent fails to disclose a method for preventing the tongueof the shoe from moving laterally without compromising the quality ordamaging the shoe. Moreover, the device of the Gingrich patent ispositioned in an entirely different location on the shoe as compared tothe present invention.

U.S. Pat. No. 8,516,722 (hereinafter referred to as the “Walker patent”)by James C. Walker discloses a shoe tongue centralizer assemblyincluding a binding post and a centralizer band which, together preventthe tongue of any type of laced shoe, boot or other footwear fromsignificant movement either laterally or longitudinally in the footwear.The Walker patent fails to disclose a method for preventing a shoetongue from decentralizing, comprising providing an anchoring memberforming a first member, second member and a terminal member; whereinsaid anchoring member is further configured to anchor to at least oneshoe eyelet. There is a need for an embodiment that can simply hook ontothe eyelet of the shoe rather than a tedious and complex embodiment asclaimed in the Walker patent.

Additional attempts to cure the shoe tongue from moving laterallyincludes slits in the tongue for the laces to pass through, which limit,but do not prevent, movement of the shoe tongue from the centralizedlocation. As such, these methods proved to be inadequate, tedious oreven impractical for a user to prevent the lateral and longitudinalmovement of the shoe tongue.

An illustrative embodiment of the present invention provides ananchoring member configured to anchor to a shoe eyelet to prevent thetongue of the shoe from moving laterally or longitudinally (e.g.,decentralizing). The present invention is further comprised of rotatingand telescopic properties thereby providing the user with the ability tocustomize the anchoring member to fit a plurality of shoe designs.Moreover, the ability to customize the present invention saves the usermoney because the user need only purchase, at most, two anchoringmembers to attach to the user's shoe in order to prevent the tongue ofthe shoe from decentralizing. Finally, the present invention ismanufactured from a lightweight and inexpensive material, which therebyprovides a manufacturer the ability to inexpensively mass produce theproduct.

These and other objects, features, and advantages of the presentinvention will become more apparent from the following detaileddescription of illustrative embodiments thereof, which is to be read inconnection with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features and advantages of the present invention will bebetter and more completely understood by referring to the followingdetailed description of exemplary non-limiting embodiments inconjunction with the drawings, of which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of a device configured to preventlateral and longitudinal movement of a shoe tongue in accordance withone or more embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a perspective view of the present invention affixedto the eyelet or wall of a users shoe in accordance with one or moreembodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various aspects and embodiments of the present invention will now bedescribed in detail with reference to the accompanying figures. Certainterminology is used herein for convenience only and is not to be takenas a limitation on the present disclosure. The terminology includes thewords specifically mentioned, derivatives thereof and words of similarimport. The embodiments illustrated below are not intended to beexhaustive or to limit the disclosure to the precise form disclosed.These embodiments are chosen and described to best explain the principleof the disclosure and its application and practical use and to enableothers skilled in the art to best utilize the disclosure.

FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of device 100 configured toprevent lateral and longitudinal movement of a shoe tongue. Device 100is manufactured out of a lightweight material that also contains a highcoefficient of friction factor (e.g., ethylene-vinyl acetate, hardplastics, foam-like and memory-foam like materials, silicone basedcompositions, rubber based compositions). The use of a material thatcontains a high coefficient of friction factor enhances the overallutility of device 100 because the material, along with the design ofdevice 100, prevents the tongue of the users shoe from moving laterallyduring physical activities while providing absolute comfort to the user.Moreover, FIG. 1 illustrates a device for preventing a shoe tongue fromdecentralizing, which is comprised of providing an anchoring member 102wherein anchoring member 102 is configured for a user to affix to theeyelet or the wall of a user's shoe. Anchoring member 102 is furthercomprised of teeth-like structures that assist in securing device 100 tothe eyelet or wall of the user's shoe. In addition to anchoring member102, device 100 is further comprised of three sections, which arereferred to in this application as first member 104, second member 106,and terminal member 108.

Referring to FIG. 2, when anchoring member 102 is affixed to the eyeletor wall 110 of a user's shoe 200, the design of device 100 permits firstmember 104 to align itself vertically along interior wall 112 of theuser's shoe. The ability for first member 104 to align itself alonginterior wall 112 of a user's shoe ultimately enhances anchoring member102 ability to remain securely fastened in its original position. Secondmember 106 is parallel to first member 104 and as a result, secondmember 106 runs adjacent to the user's foot when positioned inside ofthe user's shoe. Second member 106 is strategically designed to form fitthe contours and curvature of the side of a user's foot. The curvatureof second member 106 provides the user with additional comfort duringuse. Terminal member 108 is located at the distal end of second member106. Terminal member 108 extends horizontally behind tongue 114 of theuser's shoe. The positioning of terminal member 108 and device 100behind tongue 114 of the shoe prevents tongue 114 from moving laterallyand decentralizing from its original position.

In an alternate embodiment of the present invention, first member 104,second member 106 and terminal member 108 further embody telescopicproperties permitting a user to customize device 100 to their liking.Furthermore, terminal member 108 consist of teeth-like membersstrategically positioned on the posterior surface thereby increasing thecoefficient of friction factor and as a result reducing lateral movementof the shoe's tongue.

In an alternate embodiment of the present invention, device 100 wouldconsist of multiple joints strategically located between first member104 and second member 102 thereby providing additional movement foranchoring member 102 to securely attach to a plurality of shoe designs.Moreover, a second joint would be located between second member 106 andterminal member 108, which would act identically to the first joint.

Anchoring member 102 may be manufactured out of a flexible compositionto allow the user to manipulate anchoring member 102 to the securecomfortably to the shoe eyelet. Furthermore, anchoring member 102 may beconstructed out of a composition embodying a high coefficient offriction (e.g., silicone based composition, rubber based composition)thereby preventing the anchoring member from sliding horizontally or outof place from the shoe eyelet.

Anchoring member 102 is configured to anchor to the exterior of the shoeeyelet rather than the interior eyelet. By securing anchoring member 102to the exterior shoe eyelet the tongue of the shoe is incapable ofshifting laterally on the user. Users attest that the shoe tongue willonly shift towards the exterior of their foot rather than the interiorof their foot, thereby justifying why the present invention has beenconfigured to anchor to the exterior shoe eyelet.

It should again be emphasized that the above-described embodiments ofthe invention are presented for purposes of illustration only. Manyvariations may be made in the particular arrangements shown. Inaddition, any simplifying assumptions made above in the course ofdescribing the illustrative embodiments should also he viewed asexemplary rather than as requirements or limitations of the invention.Numerous other alternative embodiments within the scope of the appendedclaims will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for preventing a shoe tongue fromdecentralizing and moving laterally, comprising: providing an anchoringmember forming a first member, second member and a terminal member;wherein said anchoring member is further configured to securely affix toat least one shoe eyelet or the exterior wall of a user's shoe; whereinsaid first member is aligned vertically along the interior wall of theuser's shoe; wherein said second member is parallel to said firstmember; and wherein said terminal member extends horizontally behind theshoe tongue.
 2. The anchoring member of claim 1 wherein the anchoringmember is manufactured from a material that possesses a high coefficientof friction.
 3. The anchoring member of claim 2 wherein the anchoringmember is manufactured from ethylene-vinyl acetate.
 4. The anchoringmember of claim 2, wherein the anchoring member is manufactured fromsilicone based compositions.
 5. The anchoring member of claim 2, whereinthe anchoring member is manufactured from plastic.
 6. The anchoringmember of claim 2, wherein the anchoring member is manufactured fromrubber.
 7. The anchoring member of claim 2, wherein the anchoring memberis manufactured from a foam-like material.
 8. The anchoring member ofclaim 1 further comprising teeth-like structures to securely affix theanchoring member to the eyelet or wall of the user's shoe and preventmovement of said anchoring member during use.
 9. The anchoring member ofclaim 1 wherein the first member extends to an adjustable joint, thesecond member which extends to second adjustable joint and extends to anadjustable terminal member.
 10. The second member of claim 1 furthercomprising a concave shape to conform to the outer shape of a user'sfoot when positioned inside of shoe, thereby enhancing the overallcomfort to the user.
 11. The terminal member of claim 1 furthercomprising teeth-like structures on the posterior surface of saidterminal member.
 12. The teeth-like structures of claim 11 wherein saidteeth-like structures are manufactured from a material similar to thecomposition of the anchoring member.
 13. The method of claim 1 whereinthe anchoring member is further configured to slide along the horizontalaxis of the exterior eyelet tab to prevent the shoe tongue from movinglaterally.
 14. The anchoring member of claim 1 further comprising atelescopic first member, wherein said telescopic member permits a userto customize the dimensions of said anchoring member to their liking.15. The anchoring member of claim 1 further comprising a telescopicterminal member, wherein said telescopic member permits a user tocustomize the dimensions of said anchoring member to their liking.